Amsterdam is indeed as insane as its reputation. John and I went 2 guys from our program and met up with a girl from Columbia and some of her friends who are studying in Barcelona. Nothing about the city really makes sense. Coffee shops are everywhere--these are just a cover for places where people walk in, walk to the bar, buy marijuana, and sit down anywhere and smoke. Thats definitely the first thing you notice--a lot of people in the city are definitely under some sort of influence, most of which are tourists, as we learned that only a small percentage of actual residents use drugs. The city is pretty cool though, there are canals everywhere (as you'll see in a majority of my pictures), and it just has a different feel to it. The infamous Red Light District is another place that just wouldn't be anywhere else--girls literally stand in windows for blocks and blocks and guys (all creepy) pick one and walk in and they pull a curtain closed. Its mind boggling 1) that this practice exists anywhere, 2) that there are girls that would do this so blatantly (though they apparently make good money) and 3) that there are guys that would do this so blatantly. Apparently some people have no shame.
We were there for 2 full days (more than enough time), saw the Van Gogh Museum--really cool--Anne Frank house, and took a tour of the city to see a lot of the city, which was definitely worthwhile. Definitely glad I saw it and experienced it, but I'm pretty certain after being there that once is definitely enough.
We left around 7 for Brussels and I was definitely exhausted. Slept part of the train ride, but definitely not enough. When we (Me, John, and our friend from school, Ashley) we found our hotel--a Best Western, much better than a hostel!--and went out to this cool part of town with a lot of bars. The bars were actually pretty crowded, so it was good to get out and see that. We woke up early the next morning, got our free continental breakfast (meat, cheese, and bread, like apparently everywhere in Europe) and headed out to see the few big sights there are to see in the city since we only had a few hours before our flight back to Prague. Brussels was really cool, it would've been nice to have a few more hours. There isn't a ton to see, but the stuff there is pretty interesting. Its the capital of the EU so there are some big buildings for that, and a cool park, etc. Eventually we found this bar called Delirium that we had read about; it has at least 2004 beers available for sale at all times! Needless to say we experienced some of their good ones in the short time we had, and that was amazing...it is my favorite bar so far. Just compiling the number of beers into the menu (which was about 2 inches thick) must have taken a while.
Anyway, it was a great weekend to say the least. Again, having to be in cities that are on the Euro is tough, so it was nice to come back to Prague again...it is great here. I went for my first run today (finally...) as it was absolutely gorgeous--in the low 60s and bright sun/blue sky. Couldn't ask for much more. I'm here in Prague for the next 2 weekends and then its spring break (already!) when we'll be heading to Italy to go to Venice, Florence, and Rome, hopefully with a couple day trips to smaller towns from one or 2 of them. Should be a great time!
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Finally up and running
So it has taken me quite some time to finally get this going, or get an email out, so my apologies. A lot has been going on to say the least (including, unfortunately for this blog, my rediscovery of 24, The Office, and other shows available online...), but Prague has been simply amazing. My first hours alone, on the plane and when I got here, I wondered if I had made a crazy decision to come here for an entire semester. America felt very far away very quickly. But Prague felt like home soon enough too. We moved into our apartment within the first week, so that really helped things. I'm living with John, my roommate from Columbia, Chrissie (from UMichigan) and Erica (Villanova) and that has been good so far. We got a great apartment in a great location in Old Town, so we're close to everything and not paying as much as we expected. We've started cooking for dinner in the past couple weeks so that has started to save a lot of money too (not to mention my health a little bit, its pretty uncommon to go out to eat without getting a beer).
Prague as a city is beautiful, and I'm extremely happy with my choice so far. The architecture is amazing, and is even better in person than the really cool pictures you can find online, in guidebooks, etc. There are pubs and restaurants everywhere, and its not rare to sit for a couple hours over food and drinks. The people seem cold at first but you just have to realize that smiling at someone on the street or saying hi just isn't part of their culture; they aren't rude. In fact, anyone you talk to is usually pretty nice. The language barrier is tough at times--like when I brought a jacket to the dry cleaners/laundromat and tried to explain that I didn't want it dried...that didn't work well--but with the limited Czech I know and the limited English people here know, it works fine.
We've had a ton of fun so far. The Super Bowl was really quite the experience--we went to a bar called Beer Factory that had 4 beer taps at every table. You just get a glass and fill up as much/often as you want, and it keeps track of how much it pours in liters and you split it with the people at your table at the end. Amazing idea. Too bad the game didn't turn out as well. The bar was filled with American college kids, most of whom were unfortunately Giants fans, so the ending was that much worse. Oh well, definitely an experience I'll remember for a long time.
The roommates and I took a quick weekend trip to Vienna a couple weeks ago, which was amazing. We stayed at a hostel and took a walk to the center of the city pretty late at night, which was cool to see. We got up really early on Saturday and had perfect weather to see a ton of sights--that city is really, really cool. There are a lot of palaces/museums/churches that are very impressive. It is extremely expensive though, and I'm really glad to be in Prague for that reason...it is far cheaper than anywhere my other friends are.
Classes started this past week, and that has been a good way to keep us from going out every night, so I guess thats a plus. The material in most of them is really interesting, but they are all once a week for 3 hours, so by the last hour its extremely hard to pay attention/be engaged. Hopefully we'll get used to it, and then hour and 15 minute classes back at school will feel like a breeze next year.
Just a reminder that I have pictures up at www.snapfish.com. The email is w.patrick.kerns@gmail.com, and the password is prague.
Prague as a city is beautiful, and I'm extremely happy with my choice so far. The architecture is amazing, and is even better in person than the really cool pictures you can find online, in guidebooks, etc. There are pubs and restaurants everywhere, and its not rare to sit for a couple hours over food and drinks. The people seem cold at first but you just have to realize that smiling at someone on the street or saying hi just isn't part of their culture; they aren't rude. In fact, anyone you talk to is usually pretty nice. The language barrier is tough at times--like when I brought a jacket to the dry cleaners/laundromat and tried to explain that I didn't want it dried...that didn't work well--but with the limited Czech I know and the limited English people here know, it works fine.
We've had a ton of fun so far. The Super Bowl was really quite the experience--we went to a bar called Beer Factory that had 4 beer taps at every table. You just get a glass and fill up as much/often as you want, and it keeps track of how much it pours in liters and you split it with the people at your table at the end. Amazing idea. Too bad the game didn't turn out as well. The bar was filled with American college kids, most of whom were unfortunately Giants fans, so the ending was that much worse. Oh well, definitely an experience I'll remember for a long time.
The roommates and I took a quick weekend trip to Vienna a couple weeks ago, which was amazing. We stayed at a hostel and took a walk to the center of the city pretty late at night, which was cool to see. We got up really early on Saturday and had perfect weather to see a ton of sights--that city is really, really cool. There are a lot of palaces/museums/churches that are very impressive. It is extremely expensive though, and I'm really glad to be in Prague for that reason...it is far cheaper than anywhere my other friends are.
Classes started this past week, and that has been a good way to keep us from going out every night, so I guess thats a plus. The material in most of them is really interesting, but they are all once a week for 3 hours, so by the last hour its extremely hard to pay attention/be engaged. Hopefully we'll get used to it, and then hour and 15 minute classes back at school will feel like a breeze next year.
Just a reminder that I have pictures up at www.snapfish.com. The email is w.patrick.kerns@gmail.com, and the password is prague.
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